


love that lasts

by duaazhh



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: F/M, Soft Ricky Bowen (HSM: The Series)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:40:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23596996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duaazhh/pseuds/duaazhh
Summary: ricky gets a phone call from his dad who delivers some pretty shocking news. failing to process it, ricky finds himself in the school theater ... with nini there too.
Relationships: Ricky Bowen & Nini Salazar-Roberts
Comments: 1
Kudos: 40





	love that lasts

**Author's Note:**

> this is set after ep 4 but before ep 5. i'm sorry if the descriptions aren't the best but i hope u like it!

"Where is it?" Ricky said to himself as he searched for his ringing phone in his bag. He must've stuffed it in his bag before rehearsals and even though he could hear it, he couldn't see it.

_Finally_ , Ricky thought as he found his phone out of his bag's side pocket and accepted the call without getting a good look at the caller ID.

"Hello?" Ricky breathlessly said into the speaker.

"Hey, Rick, what took so long?" Mike asked.

"Ah, sorry, Dad. Couldn't find my phone. What's up, everything good?" Ricky answered after finally catching his breath.

"Yeah, it's all good, just wanted to let you know, your mom and I are going to the lawyer to discuss the… separation terms and all," Mike said.

"Oh," was all that Ricky could say. Every time he heard the word separation in that context, he felt weak and dizzy. It was a weird feeling and he hated it yet he felt stuck with it.

"Yeah, uh… there's dinner in the fridge and don't wait up, 'kay?" Mike said slowly. He knew how difficult this was for Ricky and tried his best to be there for him when his mom couldn't.

"Y-yeah, sure, okay. See you, Dad," Ricky managed to get out before ending the call.

-

Ricky felt so lost. He knew it was real, even if he didn't want to believe it. But he always thought there would be some sort of _miracle_ that would save his parents' marriage and their family. But after that phone call, after hearing his father tell him that they'd be discussing the terms of their separation, it made him feel weirdly disoriented.

A sudden wave of nausea overcame Ricky and he felt like he was going to get sick. He felt lightheaded and dizzy and found it a struggle to walk properly. He found himself not breathing properly and couldn't see straight.

What the _hel_ l is happening?

This was odd for him. He never felt like this. It was all new to Ricky and he had no idea what it meant or what was happening.

Ricky staggered left and right in search for a washroom. The poor boy had no idea what was happening to him but all he knew was that he needed to find a washroom otherwise things would get real messy real quick.

He finally found it after taking what seemed like a million lefts and rights and stormed inside. Thanking God quietly that it was empty, he quickly entered a stall and emptied the contents of his stomach into the toilet bowl.

_Ugh._ Even though he felt wretched, at least the nausea was dissipating. Ricky felt gross. And confused. And depressed.

After taking a bunch of deep breaths and walking out of the washroom, Ricky found himself in the theater. Without thinking, he walked over to one of the seats and threw himself into it.

More deep breaths. More thoughts of his parents' separation entering his mind. More stress. More nausea.

It was a sickening loop and Ricky was stuck in it.

Putting his head in his hands, the brown-haired boy started to shake violently and soon enough, he had tears spilling down his face. _Everything_ he did reminded him of the fact that he no longer had a complete family and he probably never would. Worse thoughts found their way into his mind and caused him to cry harder.

"Ricky?" a voice called out from somewhere in the huge East High theater. "Is that you?" The voice sounded familiar to Ricky; it was definitely a girl, and Ricky really didn't know _why_ or _how_ but that voice, _that_ voice right there felt like _home._

Ricky looked up to the huge stage to see Nini Salazar-Roberts sitting on a piano stool, looking at him with a worried expression on her face.

"Are you okay?" Nini said as we walked down the stage towards Ricky.

Ricky didn't respond, all he did was stare at Nini with teary eyes. Of course, this only worried Nini more.

"Ricky? You're shaking, Ricky. What's wrong?" Nini continued, as she knelt down to face him.

"I-I-I'm not okay," was all Ricky sputtered out.

"W-well, I'm here, it's okay now. Just tell me what's up, hm?" Nini was super worried and she was trying her best to calm Ricky down and make him feel better.

He didn't say anything, just closed his eyes and laid back on the theater seat.

Nini understood he didn't want to talk about it so she quietly got up and slipped into the seat next to him. A few seconds later, she reached out and held his hand. Slowly, Ricky's breathing evened out and he stopped shaking. His eyes were still closed and his tears had dried up now.

"How come you're here?" Ricky rasped out after a good six to seven minutes of silence.

"I, uh, wanted to work on a song so I thought this seemed to be the best place to do it," Nini answered. She understood he still didn't want to talk about it so she just went with it. She didn't let go of his hand though. He didn't either.

"Thanks, Nini," Ricky said abruptly. It wasn't news that he wasn't good at communicating but he just wanted Nini to know that he really was grateful for her being here and with him and not asking questions.

Nini smiled and said, "Of course, Ricky. Anytime."

After a little more silence, Ricky turned to face Nini and said, "Listen, Nini, about the other night, I, uh, I'm sorry."

Nini frowned. "Hey, come on, nothing to apologize for."

"No, I crossed my limits and I'm sorry, I don’t know what came over me. I'm sorry," Ricky said, slightly squeezing her hand.

"Ricky, hey. It's okay. Don't worry about it. No need to apologize, 'kay?" Nini looked in Ricky's chocolate brown eyes and smiled a bright smile.

Weakly smiling back, Ricky slumped back into the slightly uncomfortable seat and said, "Man, I – I don't even know how I ended up here."

This rather vague statement confused Nini. "What do you mean?"

Closing his eyes, he decided that he could confide in Nini because – well, it was Nini – and because he kinda owed her an explanation for his shakiness and tears.

Ricky didn't know how to start, how to end, so he just tried his best, "It's, like, real now. The separation, I mean. I don’t want it to be, but it is. Like, it was real before but now it's so apparent and… normal, it just feels weird, y'know? It feels wrong like it shouldn't be happening, yet it is and I don't want it to happen. I _don'_ t want it to happen. And like, they don’t even smile at each other anymore. No smiles, nothing. It feels so weird and yet so obvious. And I hate it. All of it. It's like a huge void, y'know? And all I want is to just get everything back. I wanna get my family back. I want my life back. I want my mom, my dad, you, back."

After months of having to deal with change, and his break up and his parents' separation, it seemed like all of Ricky's pent up feelings were coming out now. And, of course, all of it was true. He desperately wanted his family back. He wanted fun family dinners and going to Disneyland together and his mom and dad watching him learn how to skate and cheering him on. He wanted it all back. Their separation wasn’t a surprise; they'd been bickering and arguing for years now but Ricky never knew it was so bad that they had to get a divorce. He just assumed they'd figure it out and be one unit again. He hated the fact that that wasn’t true.

Of course, his break up with Nini definitely didn’t help either. He loved Nini, he did, he really really did. But he just didn’t know how to tell her that. Those three words never came easy for Ricky. Maybe it was because he hadn't heard his parents say it to each other for a long time, or maybe because he didn't expect a person as perfect and _good_ as Nini to feel that way for him. The boy really didn’t know why he couldn’t say it but he knew, he definitely, absolutely, 100% knew that he loved her.

Ricky knew he broke Nini's heart as soon as he stepped out that room and he _hated_ himself for it. So much. He knew that he caused her pain and he knew that he broke his promise to himself. He promised to never hurt Nini, ever, no matter what. And he'd gone and done it. It weighed in on Ricky's conscience way more than he wanted it to.

And now. After all the pain and hurt Nini went through because of him, she was the one who was sitting here with him, comforting him. She was the one here. She was the one.

Ricky was crying again. And he didn't even know he was.

"Hey, hey, hey," Nini's soft and gentle voice brought him back. "You have your mom, you have your dad, and you have me. We're not going anywhere. We're right here with you."

Tears spilled down Ricky's cheeks. "It's just a little bit of change. Everyone goes through it, don't they? Your mom and dad may not be together anymore but they're still your parents and you're still their son. They love you, more than anything. And nothing's gonna change that." Nini said as she wiped Ricky's tears off and smiled at him.

"And you?" Ricky felt way better after what Nini said and he was glad he had her in his life, even if she was just a friend. She was there and that mattered. A lot. But he just had to know what he was to her and where they stood now.

"Pft, you're not getting rid of me that easily. Sorry to tell you, but you're stuck with me, Richard Bowen," Nini said lightly, trying to mask the sadness in her voice. She wanted to just ignore everything that had happened between them and just make up and be with him again but she knew it wasn’t possible.

"Glad to know, Nini," Ricky smiled at her, trying to mask the sadness he felt at Nini's statement.

_Screw it. I'm doing it._

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Ricky took a deep breath and started, "Nini, listen. I don’t know why I'm saying it right now or what's gonna happen after I say it but I feel this way and you need to – you deserve to know it."

Nini was genuinely confused. "Ricky, what's going on?"

"I love you. Like a lot. A-and I know this isn’t really the ideal time or place to say so but I just want you to know that I really do love you and I don't why I didn’t say it to you that night. I'm stupid, we both know that. I've loved you literally forever and I – I'm sorry for not saying it back but just know that I do."

"Ri-," Nini started to speak but Ricky wasn’t done yet.

"And please know, that I'm not expecting anything from you. I just – I just want to make it unequivocally clear that I do. I love you."

Silence.

More silence.

Now, Ricky was started to regret everything he just said.

_Damn, what did I do?_

_Shouldn’t have done that._

_She probably thinks I'm crazy right now._

_God help me_

_Why would God give me a mouth if I'm to say stupid stuff like this?_

_Ugh why m-_

Out of nowhere, out of the deafening silence and the tense awkwardness, Nini pulled Ricky into a hug.

_Wha-_

Ricky was a bit surprised at this sudden action but he stayed quiet. Mostly because he missed Nini and her hugs and he was just living in the moment. If living in the moment meant getting hugs from Nini, well then, Ricky would do it forever.

After pulling away, Nini accidentally blurted out, "I'm sorry, I just felt the sudden urge to hug you. It’s a bit difficult not to, you're adorable." Her cheeks reddened and she tried to look away but Ricky took it well.

He just sighed and said, "I am, aren’t I?"

This made Nini laugh which dissolved any awkwardness between the two of them into thin air.

After the light moment, Nini spoke up.

"I love you too, Ricky. I never stopped, honestly. I was just hurt and sad and _embarrassed_ so much that day and I really don’t wanna feel that way again."

"That was my fault, Nini. And I'm so sorry I hurt you. I hate myself for it and I'm just so so sorry," Ricky felt so guilty for being the reason behind her sadness.

"Just, uh, just don't break my heart again, 'kay?" Nini chuckled lightly and said.

"Never again, Neens. I regret the first time way too much. And I love you way too much to do that again," Ricky said earnestly and shuddered at the thought of not being with Nini. But he also loved saying that he loved her. It felt so light and freeing and just… amazing. He honestly couldn’t stop saying it. And he really didn’t want to.

"I love you too, Ricky," Nini smiled and said. Not that everything was clear and okay between them, she really couldn’t stop saying it either.

The next thing Nini knew was that Ricky was kissing her. She felt like she was on cloud nine. It felt so good and she missed it so much. His kisses, his hugs, his silly jokes, all of it. Nini missed it so much.

They pulled away and looked at each other and just smiled and blushed. It definitely wasn’t their first kiss. But it was different. And much more meaningful.

**Author's Note:**

> hi, it's my first time posting here so i apologize for the horrid summary! i hope u like the story though! :)


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